Women’s Tennis Makes Splash with Three National Accolades

(SKILLMAN, N.J.) – Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis program received three NCAA Division III national awards from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Wednesday, May 23.  Senior Cze-Ja Tam (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) was awarded the Arthur Ashe Jr. for Leadership and Sportsmanship award, sophomore Katie Cecil (Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View) was named national player to watch while assistant coach Mike Belmonte was named Assistant Coach of the Year.

Off the court, Tam is a leader in the community. She started her own non-profit foundation Showers of Grace, which funds various schools and missionaries in Kenya and China. Tam has volunteered her time teaching Sunday School, working with children who have disabilities and raising money to help fight hunger. As a player, Tam has been wildly successful on the court, winning 67 singles matches during her four-year career. She was instrumental in the Tartans' ITA National Indoor Championship in 2009 when she won her No. 6 singles match against Emory University to clinch the victory.

Cecil, a transfer from Tulane University, amassed a record of 21-5 and collected four of those wins at No. 1 singles during the second half of the season. The Tartans faced a challenging schedule that featured 13 nationally-ranked opponents; in those matches, Cecil posted a record of 11-2. The sophomore is currently the third-ranked singles player in the Atlantic South.  She has also improved greatly in doubles this season with a solid record of 21-8 overall.

Belmonte, in his second season as full-time assistant coach and fourth overall, helped guide the Tartans to a 19-5 record and their third NCAA Regional Championship.  Belmonte has now received recognition for both the men's and women's program, as he was honored as Men's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009.

It was another outstanding season for the Carnegie Mellon women's tennis program, which won its third regional title in four years and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals. The Tartans were ranked as high as No. 3 in the country this season and earned a berth in the NCAA Championship for the eighth consecutive year.

As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is comprised of nearly 1,700 men's and women's varsity coaches representing over 1,200 institutions, administers numerous regional and national championships and the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings for over 20,000 college varsity student-athletes at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.